By Ken Ibenne
In March 2024, the Debt Management Office (DMO) conducted treasury bills (T-bills) auctions, offering T-bills with a total market value of N2.669 trillion.
This figure represents a 3.07% month-over-month (MoM) increase, equivalent to N79.54 billion, compared to the T-bills auctioned in February 2024, which amounted to N2.589 trillion. This data was sourced from the FMDQ Markets Monthly Report for March, as reported by The News Chronicles.
Furthermore, during the same month, the DMO reopened the seven-year (7Y) and 10-year Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bonds, auctioning FGN bonds valued at N608.86 billion, including N133.20 billion from non-competitive bids. However, there was a significant MoM decline of 59.27% (₦886.05 billion) in the total amount sold compared to February 2024’s bond sales of N1.494 trillion, across the 7Y and 10Y FGN bond maturities. Despite this, there was an oversubscription of 35.30% of the offered amount.
Moreover, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) conducted open market operations (OMO) auctions in the primary market for N1.056 trillion in March 2024.
READ ALSO: President Bola Tinubu urges Samsung to invest in Nigeria’s thriving market
Additionally, in March 2024, corporate bonds worth N15.00 billion matured and were redeemed, resulting in a 0.68% (N15.00 billion) MoM decrease in the value of Non-Sovereign Bonds outstanding to N2.194 trillion. The FMDQ Exchange also quoted commercial papers (CPs) worth a total of N112.62 billion, showing a substantial increase of 123.76% (or N62.29 billion) compared to February 2024.
Furthermore, the secondary market turnover on the FMDQ Exchange in March 2024 amounted to N48.87 trillion, with money market (MM) and foreign exchange (FX) transactions dominating the activity, accounting for 75.36% of the total secondary market turnover.
Spot foreign exchange (FX) market turnover in March 2024 reached $12.61 billion (N19.29 trillion), marking a 47.66% month-over-month (MoM) increase over the February 2024 total of $8.54 billion. The US dollar experienced a slight depreciation against the naira, closing at an average spot exchange rate of $/N1,524.04 in March 2024.